Partners Continue Pooling Resources : Swim Team and Mission Viejo Residents Will Both Benefit Under New Agreement

A coach of the Mission Viejo Nadadores swim team once proclaimed that the swimmers put the community on the map. He was not boasting, just stating the facts as he saw them, and there is ample evidence that he was right.

Because of the team’s history, and because it continued to be an asset to the city, it was important that the Mission Viejo City Council and the Nadadores ended two years of tense negotiations successfully this month and kept the swimmers in the pool.

The team started in 1968 as a small swim club when three dozen parents persuaded the community’s developer, the Mission Viejo Co., to hire a coach. The company was happy to oblige and quickly recognized the importance of a world-class operation to marketing the red-roofed homes it was building. Over the years, Nadadores swimmers won 40 medals in the Olympic Games, and the name Mission Viejo became internationally known.

But Mission Viejo became a city in 1988, and the Mission Viejo Co. ended its sponsorship of the Nadadores. The company traded its pool complex and other recreation centers to the city in exchange for an office building in 1991. That meant that as the recession picked up steam, the city was left with a $265,000 bill for annual maintenance of the swimming pools.

Some grumbled that the pool served too few community residents for the cost. But parents of swimmers wisely pitched in, helping with fund-raising and maintenance. To close the deal for a long-term lease, with renegotiation possible in three years, the team agreed to continue paying $14,400 a year for pool rental and to allow greater use by non-members. The city agreed to pay for upkeep.

The pools are a good magnet for Mission Viejo’s residents, especially youngsters who need recreational facilities. And the team helps reinforce the identity of a young city, promoting a good image of the community.